The Canceled Game That Became Gears of War

Did you know that Gears of War's roots reach back as far as 2002, when many of its concepts (including the apocalyptic sci-fi setting, grim tone, and character designs) were part of a canceled game called Unreal Warfare? IGN's History of Gears of War discussed the humbler beginnings of the massive franchise, but we didn't know much about its origins until now. The Penny Arcade Report has a detailed account of Warfare's transformation into Gears of War.
Warfare was, true to Epic tradition, a multiplayer military shooter with vehicles. A lot of stuff just didn't work out when Epic transitioned to using Unreal Engine 3, and even though it was functional, Epic killed the project. But Epic doesn't scrap everything -- in fact, it saves everything for a rainy day down the line.

“We don’t throw anything away. If it gets done and is good, we’ll find a way to use it,” said Epic designer Jim Brown. Early UE3 demos showcased various characters that would eventually become Locust enemy types, for instance, including a dragon type with obvious visual ties to the Locust infantrymen, and a very familiar Brumak.
Warfare was home to the original COG and Locust symbols as well, and one of the execution animations eventually made its way into Gears of War 3.
Gears of War shed some of its skin as well, as it turns out. At one point it featured a separate, seemingly robotic alien race its story. Oh, what might have been -- or could be later.